Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman (left) chided Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque (right) of forgetting his law in defending President Rodrigo Duterte. INQUIRER FILES
Opposition lawmaker Albay 1st District Rep. Edcel Lagman chided Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque on Tuesday, saying he has “forgotten his law ever since he became the official apologist of President Rodrigo Duterte.”
Last Aug. 16, Roque said the President had access to information tagging Naga City, the home province of Vice President Leni Robredo, as a “hotbed of shabu.”
READ: Duterte has info on Naga as ‘hotbed of shabu’ — Palace
Naga City officials and Robredo herself condemned this accusation.
READ: Robredo, Naga City cry foul over ‘shabu hotbed’ tag
On Monday however, Roque said there was no need for Duterte to show proof to the public that Naga City was a breeding ground for shabu. He also said it was for the Naga City officials to prove otherwise.
READ: No need for Duterte to prove Naga is a ’shabu hotbed’ — Palace
Lagman said Roque’s claim that Duterte did not have to prove his accusation “desecrates the cardinal rule that ‘he who alleges must prove his allegation’ and the legal dictum that ‘he who asserts, not he who denies, must prove’.”
“Duterte’s charge is bereft of proof as he failed to name the alleged drug lords operating in Naga City and document the supposed volume of shabu which has been confiscated in Bicol’s acknowledged capital,” he added.
The congressman also pointed out that the Palace failed to disclose the number of persons apprehended and indicted for shabu trafficking and use in Naga City and the number of addicts from the city who are confined in drug rehabilitation centers.
“A wild and gratuitous accusation is a virtual hallucination and an errant and feeble excuse is simply folly, which are both aberrations in law,” Lagman asserted. /cbb